A few years ago, my mother gifted me with family crystal. "Crystal" and "cats" are a disastrous combination, so the crystal has remained safely packed away. In fact, I'd only unwrapped one wine glass so I could see what it looked like. I wasn't even sure what I possessed, but I didn't want to disturb the protective wrapping and risk having something break while in storage in my upstairs kneewall.

I've been thinking about bringing it out, but I don't own a china cabinet. My friend Debra offered a small hutch she had in storage, but I hadn't gotten around to taking her up on the offer.

Then one day, as I idly poked through Craiglist, I came across an all-glass cabinet for $30.

Only thirty bucks? It was way too early on a Saturday morning to call the poster, but then I saw it had been posted just a few minutes earlier. Whoever it was, they were already up. I called, claimed it, and then later in the day I called my friend Nancy, who works at her grooming shop on Saturdays, to see if I could rope her into helping me load it in my car.

Unwrapping the crystal was a joy and a perplexity. The glasses are beautiful, but I'm not sure what they are all used for. Water, wine, brandy, and cordial? I love the tiniest cordial glasses, and all the twisted amber stems. In the gold great room, it's as if I planned the match.

Believe me, I did not.

Do click to expand the photos if your computer will handle it, just to see those beautiful stems.

I hope my mom will be happy to see the crystal finally on display. In fact, when I had friends over, the cabinet was the first place they went. While I may be too terrified to use it, it will at least get looked at.

It occurred to me that there was room to add other family heirlooms I had received over the years, so I took the alabaster doves and the leaded cream and sugar set that my mother had given me, and added them as well.

So now most of my family treasures are in one place.

Molly doesn't care, although she does like the great room on Sundays, since she is allowed on the couch while I read the Sunday paper.